The 5th Tipsport Czech Ladies Open started in challenging conditions. The Ladies European Tour tournament at the Royal Beroun Golf Club started in the windy weather, which increased in the afternoon and significantly impacted the score.
Only five players got under 70 shots, and another thirteen under par on the course. Nine more golfers had exactly a par, so only 27 women out of 132 starters fit into the score of 72.
Czech names can be found starting from 28th place, which is shared by a trio of locals on a score of 73 (+1): amateurs Denisa Vodickova and Patricia Macková, who finished in the Top 20 last year, and professional Katerina Vlasinova. The result (74 (+2)) was played by two LET members, defending champion Jana Melichova from Beroun and Tereza Melecká.
Two surprising poles met on the result 75 (+3): last year’s runner-up, the biggest favorite for this year’s tournament Klara Davidson Spilkova, and the youngest starter, 16-year-old amateur from the home club Miriam Barcalova. The Czech leader was even 4 over after the 12th hole before helping herself with her only birdie of the day on the par-5 15th. Kristýna Napoleaová, winner of the previous German Open, and Sara Kousková, last year’s LET Access Series champion, also had the same result.
Other Czech players’ scores are Sideri Váňová 76, Tereza Koželuhová and Dominika Burdová (Am) 77, Lucie Váchová (Am) and Natálie Saint Germain (Am) 78 and Eva Koželuhová 84.
Ana Dawson, the first LET member from the Isle of Man, leads after the first round, having played 68 (-4), even with a triple bogey on the 16th hole. However, the 22-year-old professional also had two eagles, on the par-five seventh and even on the par-four 13th, where she played her second shot from 130 yards into the hole.
Four players are tied for second place at 69 (-3): second in this year’s Race to Costa del Sol standings, Spain’s Ana Pelaez, who had four birdies in a row from 14 to 17, followed by France’s Celine Herbin, Finland’s Ursula Wikström, and India’s Diksha Dagar. The day’s highlight was a hole-in-one by Sweden’s Louise Stahle on the three-hole par 11 with a seven iron. This was after a year when she had an ace on the same hole, where she had hit a nine last year.
The Tipsport Czech Ladies Open continues with Round 2 on Saturday, 24 June (live on O2 TV Sport from 10:00 to 14:00) and the final round after the cut on Sunday, 25 June (O2 TV Sport from 11:00 to 16:00).